Perhaps Sir Edmund Hillary – the New Zealand mountaineer and explorer – said it best when he remarked, “It is not the mountain we conquer but ourselves.” No matter how daunting the task, pure human ambition has overcome unconquerable odds to subdue the tallest peaks in the world. If mountains are the “stairway to god’s heart”, we have no doubt stood beside him as equals. The following photoset celebrates the beauty witnessed along the way.

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First climbed in 1961 by the team of Mike Gill, Barry Bishop, Mike Ward, and Wally Romanes, Ama Dablam is a mountain in the Himalaya range of eastern Nepal. Literally meaning ‘Mother and Pearl Necklace’ the peak was adopted by UK’s Invesco group as their worldwide logo and signature. After a 2006 avalanche a climbing permit along with an officer are required before you can climb Ama Dablam.

The Shivling mountain, so-called because of its status as a sacred symbol of the Hindu god, Shiva, literally means ‘the phallus of Shiva’. Considered one of the most stunning peaks of the Garhwal region, the mountain soars 21,329 feet high. The Tapovan meadow which lies between Shivling and Gaumukh has become a popular pilgrimage site due to the stunning view of the mountain from that location.

Machapuchare, or ‘fish tail’, is revered by locals as sacred to the god Shiva and therefore has been declared off limits to climbing. At about 1,500 feet taller than Shivling, Machapuchare has never been climbed to its summit. The only known attempt at accomplishing the feat fell 50m short, after which the mountain was declared forbidden to climbers.